Introduction
Use this guide to replace the entire display assembly on your MacBook Pro, in order to fix a cracked or faulty screen.
For your safety, drain your MacBook Pro's battery below 25% charge before you begin.
Tools
Parts
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Power on your Mac and launch Terminal.
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Copy and paste the following command (or type it exactly) into Terminal:
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sudo nvram AutoBoot=%00
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Press [return]. If prompted, enter your administrator password and press [return] again. Note: Your return key may also be labeled ⏎ or "enter."
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sudo nvram AutoBoot=%03
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Use a P5 Pentalobe driver to remove the six screws securing the lower case:
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Two 6.2 mm screws
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Four 3.4 mm screws
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Apply a suction handle to the lower case near the front-center area of the MacBook Pro.
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Lift the suction handle to create a slight gap between the lower case and the chassis.
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Insert one corner of an opening pick into the space between the lower case and the chassis.
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Slide the opening pick around the nearest corner and halfway up the side of the case.
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Repeat the previous step on the opposite side, sliding your opening pick under the lower case and up the side to pop the second clip free.
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Insert your opening pick once again under the front edge of the lower case, near one of the two centermost screw holes.
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Give the pick a firm twist to pop free the third clip securing the lower case to the chassis.
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Repeat this procedure near the other of the two centermost screw holes, popping the fourth clip free.
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Pull the lower case firmly towards the front of the MacBook (away from the hinge area) to separate the last of the clips securing the lower case.
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Pull first at one corner, then the other.
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Remove the lower case.
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Set it in place and align the sliding clips near the display hinge. Press down and slide the cover toward the hinge. It should stop sliding as the clips engage.
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When the sliding clips are fully engaged and the lower case looks correctly aligned, press down firmly on the lower case to engage the four hidden clips underneath. You should feel and hear them snap into place.
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Carefully peel up the large piece of tape covering the battery connector, on the edge of the logic board nearest the battery.
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Remove the tape.
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Use the tip of a spudger to flip up the small black locking tab securing the cable in its connector.
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Disconnect the battery board data cable by sliding it out from its socket.
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Slide parallel to the logic board, in the direction of the cable.
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Use a T5 Torx driver to remove the 3.7 mm pancake screw securing the battery power connector.
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Use a spudger to gently lift the battery power connector, disconnecting the battery.
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Lift the connector high enough so that it stays separated from its socket. If it accidentally makes contact during the course of your repair, it could damage your MacBook Pro.
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Remove the four 1.9 mm T3 Torx screws securing the plastic covers on top of the display hinges.
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Remove both plastic hinge covers.
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Remove the two 2.9 mm T3 Torx screws securing the aluminum cover on top of the main display cable.
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Remove the cover.
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Remove the two 1.7 mm T3 Torx screws securing the aluminum cover on top of the display cable flex connector.
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Remove the cover.
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Pry the display board flex cable straight up from its socket to disconnect it from the display board.
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Remove the four 1.5 mm T3 Torx screws securing the two aluminum covers on top of the two display board cables.
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Use a pair of tweezers to remove the two aluminum covers.
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Remove the four 3.9 mm T5 Torx screws (two from each side) securing the antenna cable assembly.
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Also remove the twelve 1.1 mm P2 pentalobe screws (six from each side).
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Carefully disconnect the three antenna coax cables by prying them straight up from the logic board.
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Carefully remove the antenna assembly, while simultaneously feeding the antenna cable bundle out from underneath the heat pipe.
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Grab the left side of the display cable assembly and pull it towards the bottom end of the MacBook and away from the cover spring.
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Use a pair of tweezers to pull the cover spring of the display cable out of its recess.
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Repeat this step with the right cover spring of the display cable assembly.
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Gently place your laptop keyboard-side-down over the edge of a table so the screen hangs straight down.
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Support the screen with one hand and use your free hand to remove the six T8 Torx screws securing the hinges.
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Firmly secure the main body of your MacBook with one hand.
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With your free hand, push the left side of the screen up and towards the bottom of your laptop to free the left hinge.
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Compare your new replacement part to the original part—you may need to transfer remaining components or remove adhesive backings from the new part before installing.
To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.
Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting or search our Answers community for help.
25 comments
I followed all the steps and my new screen is working properly (•̀ᴗ•́)و. I realized however that my Touch Bar isn’t lighting up anymore… Did I forget to connect something?
Guy -
Where did you buy a replacement screen for your Mac? I can seem to find any for the A1989 Model that seems legit and I’m not sure how much I trust eBay listings.
Did you ever find an answer to this because I have had the same thing happen and I cannot for the life of me figure out why it has happened, what did you do to fix the problem or did you just give up and go to apple?
jack -
Unfortunately, my Touch Bar is still not working. I did some research back in 2020 and couldn’t find anything that would help fix this issue. And since my laptop is connected to an external screen and keyboard most of the time, it never really bothered me. But I should take it to Apple to see if it can be fixed and how much it’ll cost…
Guy -
I mean you may as well because what if it is just some simple calibration issue or some silly little thing that their diagnostic software can fix in less than a minute? If they try to charge too much money then you can always just deny, I believe that I will end up doing that soon to get a quote on just how much it will cost me to get both the display and Touch Bar repaired and see if it is worth it or not.
jack -
Ok so I would like to inform you that I did a little bit of digging into my MacBook Pro with its Touch Bar connectors and I have made the discovery that 1 one of those little chips near the connector I think they are resistors or diodes, idk but I found that one of them have literally exploded and killed another one next to it. I have no idea why or how but maybe you wanna check your MacBook Pro for that as well to see if its a common occurrence
jack -
I think you didn't read the VERY IMPORTANT comment by Marcelo on step 30. The long rectangle next to the pointy part of the "left" hinge (the one visible in the photo) is the connector for the touch bar and is EASILY DAMAGED, especially since you need a lot of force to get the hinge in.
I got around this by sliding the "left" hinge SIDEWAYS into its slot and then forcing the "right" hinge back.
Does anyone know where I can find a new official Apple Display 13” for model A1989? Can’t seem to find any except for eBay.
Yeah, I found mine on eBay. This vendor seemed trustworthy (www.ebay.com/usr/wallachee?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2754) and it turned out to be true. The screen I got is working perfectly…
Guy -
Après remplacement de l’écran complet.
Je confirme que ce tutoriel fonctionne également pour le MacBook Pro avec Touch Bar 13,3 “ de 2017 A1706
Attention: aux étapes 16-18-20-27 utiliser un embout Torx T4 et non T3.
Fajardo -
Is this step necessary? I can’t perform this step as I am attempting to repair water damage and need to remove logic board & most likely replace the battery.
Macrepair SF -
@mac_medic You definitely don’t want the power coming on while the board is wet. In your case, I think powering on the machine to disable Auto Boot would do more damage than it prevents. I agree, skip this step and be prepared to disconnect the battery quickly if the laptop automatically powers on. Good luck!
Jeff Suovanen -
Thats right! You don't want power running while working on your logic board.
Dan -